Word: john
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...When he scrambles into the bathroom, doubled over and grimacing at the excruciating effort of relieving himself - well, the audience feels his pain.) Duncan, in his breakout role (after several supporting roles in films like Armageddon), succeeds in winning over the sympathies of the audience with an inspiring performance. John Coffey is a walking paradox - his monstrous frame is capable of flattening a man, and yet he is afraid of the dark. Using his imposing physical presence, Duncan illustrates this juxtaposition while communicating the integrity that defines his character - a nave innocence contrasted with a keenly insightful spirit...
...strength of The Green Mile lies in its spiritual core. Here, Stephen King's affinity for all things supernatural and unexplainable shines through. John Coffey possesses the mysterious ability to heal wounds and illnesses with his touch; his hand starts to glow with a mystical light, and his healings are nothing short of miraculous. His touch cures Edgecomb's urinary tract infection and revives a dead Mr. Jingles, and his power is so strong that light bulbs in his proximity shatter before the sheer concentrated energy. After each healing, the harmful spirits, in the form of a black swarm...
...gift from God? That's certainly what it seems like. Coffey truly seems to be a Christ figure - a man with mysterious origins, a pure soul, and the power to heal. Furthermore, there are two executions that take place before John is scheduled to die - in both cases, the issue of penance is key. Perhaps they represent the two thieves who died alonside Jesus? The allusion seems too obvious to ignore...
...John Coffey's powers extend beyond mere healing - he also possesses the ability to sense evil in others. He sees the violent thoughts within the deranged Wild Bill, and is repulsed by the realization that there is more to his murderous past than he is letting on. In Percy (perhaps the most despicably obnoxious character ever to grace the silver screen), he recognizes the arrogance and sheer malice that is most intensely manifested in his cruelty towards the inmate Eduard Delacroix. First, he breaks his fingers with his billy club; then, he crushes Mr. Jingles beneath his boot, necessitating John...
...Green Mile is a place of redemption, where guilty men receive a final opportunity to repent. It is here that John Coffey transcends the black and white of this world, elevating the struggle between good and evil to a spiritual plane. During the climactic scene in which Edgecomb takes Coffey's hand through the bars of his cell, Coffey rewards Edgecomb's faith in him by letting him see the evil that he sees. With sparks flying in the background, Edgecomb glimpses Coffey's insight, and realizes the truth...